A stupid question...

[domestic goddess]

I wish there were a forum for stupid questions, because I am about to ask one, and I'm not even sure if it is in the correct place. If not, mods, please move it to wherever it should go. I got into what passes for conversation with a family member today, and he totally went off on me because I am not interested in extraterrestrials (sp?). Frankly, I have less than no interest in little green men from outer space and hate all the pseudo science surrounding them. My take on all this is that we have plenty of problems to solve here, and unless ETs have solutions for them, then what good are they, anyway? But he insists that scientists in Russia have vital evidence that will change everything. Has anyone else heard about this? He insists that it is all over Facebook (definitely a positive scientific community), even though I haven't been able to find out anything about it.
The second part of our morning conversation centered around the "evidence" Russians have about 9/11. When I asked him what evidence they could possibly have, he said it was satellite photos. Well, gosh, just about everyone has "satellite photos". What does that even mean in terms of "evidence"? Finally, he asked me what kind of news I would be interrested in, and I told him something about a cure for Ebola, or a solution for hunger, or effective treatments for cancer or a way to heal brain injuries. He got real sarcastic, and said that was never going to happen. Apparently I should be more concerned about extraterrestrials, because they supposedly have all the answers, and are just waiting for us to believe in them before they share them with us. Kind of like some peoples' take on God. Anyway, if anyone here has heard anything about either of these two topics, please tip me off to where I can find more info on either or both, so I can catch up. Sounds like a Fox news blurb to me, but maybe I am just too jaded.

[bae]

It's just hogwash.

[iris lilies]

Use your Google-fu to find all kinds of weird, wacky , and dark corners of the interwebs. Conspiracy theories abound there.

Aliens from space are interesting to contemplate but it's even MORE interesting to contemplate: what if we are IT? In the universe!!??? How's about THAT! Kinda makes it more embarrassing that we are all so hell bent on killing and maiming each other if we are such precious space cargo.

[bae]

Studies I've seen on the Internet indicate that it is highly probably that we don't really exist, that we are just a simulation running on some space alien's computer.

http://www.simulation-argument.com/

[JaneV2.0]

I'm fascinated by certain subjects (extra- or intra-dimensional entities among them), and have only a "need to know" interest in others (Ebola, for example), but I sure wouldn't buttonhole someone and launch into a duel to the death over any of them.

Stephen Hawkings, for one, thinks we should avoid contact with EBEs (extra-terrestrial biological entities) as long as possible, because they surely don't have our interests at heart. Unless you're willing to tackle an in-depth study of all the ramifications of EBEs, and to winnow the wheat from the chaff (most of what is published is unprovable, except for photographed UFO sightings like Arizona's), I suggest you just agree to disagree.

People have all kinds of interests in life--this world is infinitely fascinating--and that's OK. If you're trying to enlist a gang of people to call out your--son-in-law, is it?--as a combative idiot, that's another issue.

[kib]

I think I'm getting too jaded. My thought on 911 ... there is strange footage out there. It really does look more like an orchestrated demolition than the result of a plane crash, which seems to be the impression of some of the people who built the WTC as well. The jaded part ... does it really make any difference at this point?

As far as little green men ... I think we're way too anthropocentric in our assumption of what life from elsewhere might be like. Just like I think we're way too anthropocentric when we contemplate what life after death might be like. We have nothing to go on but what we are, what we hope and what we fear, but I find mankind's expectations much too emotion based to be anything but problematic.

So while I find both topics curiosities, I can't see devoting a whole lot of my own time to them.

[CathyA]

As far as little green men ... I think we're way too anthropocentric in our assumption of what life from elsewhere might be like.

I agree.......heck, they could even be the viruses we have.

I find the whole UFO thing mildly interesting, but not enough to argue with anyone about it.

[Packy]

I was reading about how the plane hit the Empire State Building in 1945. One of the engines detached from the plane, and went down an elevator shaft inside the building. Isn't that interesting? Anyway, All these conspiracy theories make for escapist entertainment. The conspiracy buff material I've read on say, the Kennedy Assassination, always reads as though a paranoid schizophrenic wrote it. Double talk and mumbo-jumbo. Not credible, and yet there is a much, much larger body of crackpot "buff" literature out there, than there is of the well-written, researched, verifiable, solid-evidence, Oswald-was-a-lone nut-books. Go Figure. I've also seen various cable-TV series that were formerly interesting, informative and credible, reinvent itself as a pseudo science fiction program, just to cater to its viewing audience. Totally dumbed down. Some people have a "need" for it, apparently, but the problem is when they start accepting fiction as fact, and it starts working its way into the general public perception of how things were. False=True. Washington chopping down the cherry tree. See? You can't fix stupid(as Ron White says), but you can object to misleading fictional accounts of actual events being presented in popular media. Some peoples' only exposure to coverage of historical events is through Tee-Vee and Tee-Vee Mooovees, and that's why we should demand historical accuracy, not leaving stuff to the film makers' imagination. See? Hope that helps you some.

[sweetana3]

Packy, in this case, I agree with you. I do however like the TV Frontline or Nova or some engineering documentaries who disect events to try and figure out what happened. Sometimes what happens is just the meeting of many errors at one point of time.

[kib]

I'm amazed at what sometimes passes for "History", "Discovery" and "Learning" on those respective channels and I agree with you, Packy. At best, the captions ought to read, "Stay Tuned! We don't know anything new and we're not doing a very good job of explaining what we do know, but Stay Tuned anyway!"

[catherine]

My source of amazement, and one of the reasons I'm into the environment, is that we seem to be the oddball planet, at least within a few hundred light-years, that has such prolific life, such diversity of life, and such a wondrous balance of everything working together.

Now and then you hear that someone found that there may have been water on Mars, or signs of life on this planet or that planet, but absolutely nothing that resembles the complexity of life we have here.

I've seen the recent news about the planet Kepler that seems to have a similar atmosphere but, again, that's in another whole galaxy. It is just crazy how evolution has taken the different paths it has so that we are where we are, and being as "smart" as we are, what do we do but set about like locusts putting us on a course that will turn back the clock on our rich and abundant biodiversity.

As for aliens, maybe there are some out there somewhere.Who knows. I guess anything's possible.

[ApatheticNoMore]

I know, I'm always disgusted when people are so amazed thinking about life elsewhere and don't appreciate all the varieties of life forms here. I figure odds are probably there is life elsewhere but that doesn't mean it's trying to communicate with us.

[Packy]

Okay, yes--I am still good with PBS Documentaries, and as a side note: it is a damn shame about Carl Sagan having passed, so soon. That was maybe 16-17 years ago? But, he wanted to present astronomy to the masses, and he actually took flak from the scientific community for supposedly being a bit too "show biz". But, nothing like what you see on Tee-Vee, today.

[domestic goddess]

Thank you all for your points of view. First of all, no, I am not trying to get people to gang up against my son-in-law. He just started in on this topic this morning and I have to confess I wasn't sure if I had really missed some big news. I have less than no interest in the topic of alien life forms or 9/11 conspiracy theories, and it could well be that I have just overlooked some of the "news" on one or another. But I am not allowed to just let a topic that he brings up drop, even if I have nothing to say about it. I did a brief Google search and didn't see anything that seemed to support what he was claiming. Wasn't sure how recent this all is, either, so didn't know how far back I should be looking. I thought someone somewhere might have heard about it, and could point me toward some resources. I kept up the search, though, and finally found some things about Russians having a folder, like they have a suitcase of nuclear codes, that has information from and about extraterrestrials. Not one of them was from a reputable website, though, so I think I can let that one go. The 9/11 stuff I am going to let go, also. I don't have much faith in conspiracy theories. Maybe I just don't have enough imagination, or maybe I am just more concerned with more prosaic stuff, like feeding the hungry, and curing disease, both things my sil thinks will never happen. Anyway, we just don't agree on much of anything, and that is just how it will have to remain.

[Packy]

I need to work a certain interesting factoid into this thread, somehow. I guess it is relevant, because is an example of how TeeVee can very skillfully create perceptions & skew peoples view of things, especially if the viewership tends to be very simplistic in their judgements. Much like watchers of that Duck Robertson Clan show, or littlebittymee. Ha. Anyway, there was a very popular show on, 40-50-plus years ago, called "Bonanza". It was a fictitious western, set in the mid-19th century American West. Tell me you've seen it, okay? The show was also noted for occasionally raising issues of social justice, in a relatively non-controversial way. Character development was definitely a part of the show, so we thought we knew the "Cartwrights" pretty well, right? So, okay--which("Cartwright") cast member--in real life--had the most advanced formal education? By far. You are permitted to research this one. Don't just shoot from the hip. See what I mean about creating perceptions?

[JaneV2.0]

I know, I'm always disgusted when people are so amazed thinking about life elsewhere and don't appreciate all the varieties of life forms here. I figure odds are probably there is life elsewhere but that doesn't mean it's trying to communicate with us.

Fortunately, it's quite possible to be fascinated with all of it. The variety of life forms here on earth is dizzying--Previous generations never got to see half of what we are able to, and future generations will be able to say that of us. And I expect there's a lot we just catch glimpses of, or maybe go on about our business unaware of, because we don't have the tools yet to see. Some visionaries are working to unravel the secrets of the universe and beyond, because that's their passion; microbiologists are making ever tinier discoveries (a creature with working gears!) because the quest consumes them. I don't think we'll ever begin to discover the All That Is, but curiosity will lead us on forever.

[shadowmoss]

Packy: Dan Blocker? Just shooting from the hip as he seems to be the most easily dismissed character on the show.

Edited: Ok, according to Widipedia it is Parnell Roberts. I kinda forget he was on the show, and liked him more in things he did later. Sorry if this was a spoiler. It was interesting that the person who wrote this up for Wikipedia didn't seem to have a very favorable impression of Michael Landon.

[goldensmom]

I’m interested in alien life forms as depicted in ‘Men in Black I, I III’, ‘Independence Day’, ‘Star Trek’, ‘Star Wars’ etc., etc. and other forms of entertainment but as a serious subject, not really into it and nothing I am interested in researching. Maybe they exist, maybe not. Incidentally, I watch Fox News and have never heard blurbs, reports or comments, etc.. about either subject you mentioned.

[IshbelRobertson]

Just do a google for Bathgate + UFOs to see how many people appear to believe!

[domestic goddess]

Packy, I would have guessed Parnell Roberts. No real reason for that, though. I know there are a lot of people who are greatly interested in alien life forms and conspiracy theories; I'm just not one of them. If anyone wants to spend time on those topics, fine; just don't try to drag me into it. There are other ways I prefer to spend my time.
Goldensmom, thank you for the info about above topics and FOX news. We don't watch them here, but I thought sil might have heard them in a home where he was working, that had the news on.
Not to say that anyone is right or wrong for what they find interesting. I know that much of what I find interesting is boring to others. Different strokes, you know. I just wondered if, in my general disinterest about such topics, I had missed something factual and possibly important. No one else I know has heard anything about it, either. So I am ready to move on. Maybe I'll line everyone in the house up and make them do embroidery.

[JaneV2.0]

Just do a google for Bathgate + UFOs to see how many people appear to believe!

It may be a matter of semantics, but UFO stands only for "unidentified flying objects." People see inexplicable objects in the sky all the time--some of these people include experienced pilots like Japan's Kenju Tarauchi and Iran's General Parviz Jafari, who had terrifying up close encounters with unknown aircraft. Five percent or so of these are never explained. So UFOs unequivocally exist, and the percentage of people who acknowledge that should be 100%.

[sweetana3]

:-) UFO in my world means unfinished object. And I have a lot of them spinning around the house.

[domestic goddess]

:-) UFO in my world means unfinished object. And I have a lot of them spinning around the house.


Me, too! And I totally believe in them!

[IshbelRobertson]

It may be a matter of semantics, but UFO stands only for "unidentified flying objects." People see inexplicable objects in the sky all the time--some of these people include experienced pilots like Japan's Kenju Tarauchi and Iran's General Parviz Jafari, who had terrifying up close encounters with unknown aircraft. Five percent or so of these are never explained. So UFOs unequivocally exist, and the percentage of people who acknowledge that should be 100%.


Hmmmmmmmm.... i'm not a believer, so maybe that should be less than 100%?

[ToomuchStuff]

First rule, a stupid question is an unasked one that causes you make bad/wrong/guessing decissions, because you were afraid to get the answer you needed to make an informed one.
Next, I believe in UFO's, because once indentified, they are no longer UFO's. We have three letter government agencies that chase UFO's (DEA, looking for small planes avoiding radar, bringing in drugs, etc). Now, is there intelligent life out there, well:
We don't have a useful definition of intelligence, let along consciousness. Without that, it is hard to test.
Also, without that, how could we determine we were intelligent? (is there intelligent life here?)
What makes us so conceited to think that some other civilization would want to study/visit/contact/exterminate us? (how many anthills in Africa do we go out to study/visit/contact/destroy)
Define out there. Is is from space, or another dimension (like us three dimensional beings, visiting flatland/2 dimensional), or what I find more likely, us, from the future visiting/studying us? (we wouldn't appear out of place, would have more advanced tech to use ours against us to get the info needed, without us knowing) Although this last bit means we would have discovered how some particles apparantly move faster then the speed of light and be able to use that tech (doubt in my lifetime). I've thought about that, because I thought I might write it into a scifi book, during my life. (not as good as connecticut yankee in king arthur's court).
All that said, I think the reason it facinates so many, is it is a distraction. It allows them to hope someone else will fix their problems and they don't need to worry or face them. Oh, look, shiney...

[JaneV2.0]

Hmmmmmmmm.... i'm not a believer, so maybe that should be less than 100%?

No, I don't think so. All you have to believe is that (approximately) five percent of the objects people report seeing in the sky cannot be identified as any known aircraft or phenomenon (maybe they're hush-hush government experiments). They're just unidentified, and that seems perfectly believable to me. That was my point.

[JaneV2.0]

...
All that said, I think the reason it facinates so many, is it is a distraction. It allows them to hope someone else will fix their problems and they don't need to worry or face them. Oh, look, shiney...

I think the freedom to pursue any and all interests in life is what makes it worth living.

I'd like to think we'd solve our own problems, but our history of doing so is spotty. Time will tell.